


Ask Not What Your Mayor Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For Your Mayor

by blueteak



Category: Hart of Dixie
Genre: Gen, Small Towns, search party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-24 03:18:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17696654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueteak/pseuds/blueteak
Summary: The citizens of most towns wouldn't drop their afternoon and evening plans to, say, search for their mayor's missing alligator. Bluebell's different.





	Ask Not What Your Mayor Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For Your Mayor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [APgeeksout](https://archiveofourown.org/users/APgeeksout/gifts).



Burt Reynolds huddled in the undergrowth, moving further back every time someone came closer with a flashlight. He wasn’t frightened. The people searching for him were all familiar. Some more than others, but he recognized the young one who usually visited the one called Zoe, who Burt liked even though she smelled like the veterinarian’s office.

The young one had fed him for a week or so--great, big tasty fish, too. Burt had started to wonder what had happened to Lavon when one day the girl had come pushing Lavon along in some sort of shiny thing. Lavon's legs had looked funny, too, but Burt had lost track of that once he'd noticed the bucket of fish balanced on Lavon's legs. He'd bumped his head against Lavon's leg, like he usually did when he wanted to be fed, and had ended up hurting his nose. Much as he'd liked the young one, he'd liked it better when Lavon had come to feed Burt again himself without that hard shell on his legs.

The ones who smelled like alpacas and all sorts of other things Burt wanted to eat had also been by to look for him, though sadly this time without the alpacas (and all the other delicious smelling things). Burt had only tried to eat them once, but the people had seemed awfully upset and had said "alpaca" a lot to Lavon, who kept saying it back to them and gesturing to Burt, like Burt had deserved to eat the alpacas. Burt had appreciated that. He hadn't appreciated people coming over and trying to pet him, though. Zoe had seemed to understand. She'd muttered "Wanda" and "petting zoo electoral fundraisers" on the way home so often that Burt knew he'd run if he ever heard those words again.

And, of course Lemon, the one whose scent had merged with Lavon’s, had come to look for him. It had taken Burt some time to warm up to her. She had rarely looked at him with kindness in her eyes. That had all changed when Burt had snapped at someone who was clearly disturbing Lavon. Lemon still didn't feed him or anything, but she'd smile when she saw him.

Others came to look for him too, some who used to smell more like Lavon but now smelled more like a mix of themselves and other people Burt didn’t know as well. All of them looked for him, but he wasn't ready to go back yet. He liked his home, but he liked being out as well, and any anyway, none of these people trying to find him were Lavon.

Until suddenly Lavon was there with someone Burt wasn’t as familiar with. This person smelled like a mix of good things, like fish, and bad things, like a veterinarian’s office. Maybe this person was related to Zoe?

The man who smelled like the veterinarian's office dropped a fish on the ground where Burt would have to come and get it. He wasn’t looking too happy about, like he might fight Burt for it if Burt came to get it. 

Lavon gave the man a look Burt was familiar with, one that said he’d better stop acting up if he wanted the good fish. 

The man sighed, held up his hands, and stepped back from the fish. 

Burt came out and started enjoying his meal.

He was so enraptured by the enormous, delicious fish that he barely noticed the commotion around him. He was surrounded, but still not afraid. These people were all linked with Lavon in some way, and Lavon was safe. Lavon knew him. He had probably sent these people, his people to look for Burt, but he’d realized at the end that Burt would be more likely to come out if he was given this amazing fish, a fish more fantastic than the last one Lavon had caught for him over a year ago. Not that Burt minded venison, but it had gotten old after a while. He’d escape more often if this was the result. 

Lavon seemed to be in a good mood, smiling and laughing and handing out what looked trash from the swamp Burt had come from--the kind that could cut you if it had a jagged edge. These people seemed to enjoy drinking it, though. Somewhere, there was the scent of burning fish—maybe it had come from the man with the big fish? Soon everyone was eating fish and talking. Burt fell asleep to the sound of happy voices and the clinking sound of those things Lavon had handed out, glad that he’d wound up with this man who could get him people to provide for him. Maybe next he’d hold off on coming out until he got some alpaca.


End file.
